Member's Press Release

Release Date: 09/29/2016
Contact: Jacque Bland at (304) 590-4678

President Cole

Senate President Cole Statement on West Virginia’s Downgraded Bond Rating

“While Fitch’s downgrade is certainly disappointing, it shouldn’t be a surprise. West Virginia is an energy state, and our coal industry has suffered tremendously during the last eight years. The continued decline of that severance tax revenue, and the other revenues associated with it, puts our state’s finances into a terrible strain. It’s also important to note that Fitch expects that our spending growth, unless there are changes, will outpace our natural revenue growth. It’s clearly spelled out for us: We have to right-size our government and get our state’s spending under control, and quickly. West Virginia’s families simply cannot afford to keep fronting the cost of a government that grows in the face of a declining population.”